Pictured: Sixteen-year-old Christina Edkins was stabbed to death as she travelled to school on a busy bus in Birmingham city centre this morning

A teenage girl was stabbed to death in front of terrified commuters yesterday on a bus taking her to school.

Christina Edkins, 16, who had tweeted of fears about men following her on public transport, was in her uniform on the top deck of the bus in Birmingham city centre when she was stabbed in the neck by a man, witnesses said.

The rush-hour attack took place in front of horrified passengers, who are thought to have included other schoolchildren.

Some fought to save her life but Christina, who was travelling alone, was pronounced dead at the scene shortly afterwards.

A 22-year-old man was arrested 100 yards from where the attack took place.

Last night, friends and family paid tribute to the victim, describing her as a ‘bright and popular’ young girl.

Her parents Jason, 42, and Kathleen, 47, and siblings Joanne, 24, and Ryan, 18, were said to be ‘deeply distressed’.

Police said they were treating the murder as a ‘random attack’ and do not believe Christina knew her killer.

Only weeks ago, however, she had told friends about a strange man lurking near her on the bus. ‘This man is worrying me on the bus, keeps getting up and walking up and down stairs and sitting in different places,’ she wrote on Twitter.

Christina, who recently turned 16, had also told friends she hated travelling on public transport, saying she could not wait for her next birthday when she could start to drive.

In other messages on Twitter, she wrote of feeling unable to trust more than a few people in her life and just the day before she was killed she asked her followers: ‘Why can’t something go right for once?’

The teenager, who wanted to become a nurse, was killed as she travelled to school to sit a mock GCSE exam, friends said.

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Held: A 22-year-old man was later arrested on suspicion of her murder after a huge manhunt was launched

Rush-hour horror: Police and paramedics at the scene in Hagley Road, Birmingham, where the schoolgirl was stabbed to death on a bus

Concerned: Christina tweeted about a man 'worrying me' on the bus about a month before she was killed

She had got on the First West
Midlands number 9 bus at about 7.30am close to her home in Birmingham
city centre and was travelling to Leasowes Community College in
Halesowen, about five miles away.

Shortly after she got on the bus and
sat on the top deck, a man who was already on board suddenly pounced,
knifing her to death in a ‘sporadic and very quick’ attack.

Witnesses said she was stabbed in her neck as the bus was slowing for the next stop, allowing her attacker to escape.

FRIENDS TWEET TRIBUTES TO 'HAPPY AND SMILING' CHRISTINA

marniedaisy, who claimed to have been best friends with Christina since the age of three, wrote: 'i just don't want to believe it, I'm literally heartbroken x'

sp3nnn- added: 'It won't be the same anymore Christina was always so happy and smiling. She had such a beautiful smile you couldn't help but smile back rip'

OllyRiley wrote: 'RIP @ChristinaEdkins we will never ever forget you, remember our promise up there okay! I won't break it'

KaraJns said: 'We had the best heart to heart on Saturday, won't forget it. So glad i met you. Rip beautiful @ChristinaEdkins'

farheenok tweeted: '@christinaedkins RIP, you were one of the nicest people ever, the good people always go first, we'll never forget you x'

Shortly afterwards Darren Bent, from
Birmingham, said: ‘Some guy has just stabbed and killed a schoolgirl
right in front of my missus on the number 9 bus on her way to work and
she had to give CPR. The guy did it as the bus was about to stop and ran
off.’

A Twitter user added that a friend ‘was on the bus and a girl was stabbed in the neck’.

Police launched a manhunt involving
more than 100 officers, some armed, and described the murderer as an
‘extremely dangerous’ black male in his early-20s wearing a top with a
tiger motif.

A man who is believed to be from a
strict Christian family from Mbabane, Swaziland, was arrested a few
hours later on suspicion of murder after a chase behind a Morrisons
supermarket. Police say they are not looking for anyone else in
connection with the attack.

Officers are questioning the suspect, doing forensic tests and trawling through CCTV evidence from cameras on the bus.

They are also looking at Christina’s
online profiles as part of the investigation but said there was ‘nothing
to suggest she was being targeted’.

Christina’s family was too distraught to speak yesterday at their terraced maisonette in inner-city Ladywood, Birmingham.

Lee Barton, whose daughter Marnie was best friends with Christina, described her as a ‘sweet, innocent young girl’.

Mr Barton, 46, from Hockley, Birmingham, said: ‘I’ve spoken briefly to Christina’s father on the phone.’

Asked how Mr Edkins was, Mr Barton replied: ‘You can imagine.’

Mr Barton’s daughter, who has known
Christina since they were three, wrote on Twitter: ‘I just don’t want to
believe it, I’m literally heartbroken. She’s still my best friend, no
matter what.’

Show of solidarity: Christina's classmates hold hands as they take flowers to the scene of her stabbing

Friendship ring: Teenagers from Christina's school huddle together as they come to terms with her death

In shock: A tribute page has also been set up on Facebook for 'beautiful angel' Christina, with users calling her death 'a waste of a beautiful young life'

On alert: Police outside Leasowes high school in Halesowen, where Christina Edkins was a pupil

‘Kathleen sent Christina to school in Halesowen because she wanted her to have a good education.’
Yesterday, friends gathered at the school gates and laid flowers.

Location: A man was arrested on suspicion of murder near the Morrisons supermarket in Harborne Road just a short distance from the scene of the attack in Hagely Road

Investigation underway: Police surround the bus, where the girl was reportedly attacked by a male

Tragedy: West Midlands Police said they have identified the victim's family and are in the process of breaking the sad news

Tragedy: West Midlands Police said they have identified the victim's family and are in the process of breaking the sad news

Scouring the scene: A forensics officer gathers clues on board the 9 National Express West Midlands bus

Probe: Forensics experts load evidence into a van as a manhunt got underway to find the killer

Search operation: A huge manhunt has now been launched after the killer fled the scene

In vain: Emergency services were dispatched immediately, but nothing could be done to save the victim

Headmaster Neil Shaw said: ‘Christina
was a bright and popular student much loved by staff and students
alike. We are deeply saddened to hear this tragic news and our thoughts
and hearts go out to her family and everyone who knew her.’

He added that school friends were being counselled to help them come to terms with her death.
Friends also wrote of their heartbreak on social networking sites and 20,000 people ‘liked’ a Facebook tribute page.

The attack happened a week after
police announced a month-long operation to tackle bus crime in the city,
involving putting plain-clothed officers on some services.

Detective Superintendent Richard
Baker of West Midlands Police said: ‘This is a tragic case and the
victim’s family are devastated.’